Wireframe – Issue 20, 2019

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Shinji Mikami \^ Developer Profile

Interface

he didn’t even like being scared by
entertainment products. Nevertheless,
Mikami agreed to head up the project,
and the rest is industry-changing history.

‘MAKE IT HARDER’
‘Don’t you dare put Capcom’s name to
shit like this’ was the reaction of Capcom
higher up and Mikami’s project boss
on Biohazard – retitled Resident Evil in
the West. Yoshiki Okamoto was not
happy with an early version of the game
sent his way, complaining in large part
about the steep difficulty of the game,
and worrying that players around the
world would be put off by elements
like disconnected item boxes, requiring
massive backtracking just to get a thing
you needed at any given moment.
Despite the request to reduce the
game’s difficulty, which Mikami agreed
was necessary and implemented, when
Resident Evil made its way to the West,
the request came in to make it harder
again. “The US staff asked us to create
this more difficult version, so that the
game could be rented in the US,” Mikami
explained in a 1998 WildStorm interview.
“If the game could be completed in
a few days, fewer units of the game
would sell.” We can’t say for sure if this
worry stood on shaky ground or not,
really, but the fact is Resident Evil’s 1996
release saw millions of copies sold and
a new paradigm for cinematic gaming
as a whole. Yes, the “Jill sandwich” line
was rubbish, but there’s no denying the
impact of Barry Burton and co.
From there, it was a mix of moonshots
and middle ground, with Mikami able
to pick and choose the projects he

worked on over the years. At Capcom,

he was afforded the chance to head

up projects like the Capcom Five and

Clover Studio, but life as a producer

never quite suited the man. “I can’t help

thinking that if Resident Evil hadn’t sold

so well, maybe I could have spent that

period of my 30s doing creative work

as a studio director instead of working

as a producer,” Mikami told GameSpot

in 2016. “Although I still feel like a very

lucky man to be able to have those kinds

of worries.”

The desire to return to a purely

creative role proved too strong, though,

and Mikami has spent the past decade-

plus moving through a few studios –

most recently Tango Gameworks, which

he founded in 2010 – and tinkering with

unique projects along the way. While he

has returned to the well a couple of

times, notably with the Resident Evil

remake and its fourth iteration back

at Capcom, Mikami has generally kept

his focus straight ahead, looking for

the new newness and making sure

not to retread too much old ground.

When you’ve got a man who will say

things like: “The Colin McRae games on

the PlayStation... got very close to the

survival horror structure,” as Mikami

did to The Guardian in 2014, you know

you’ve got a special mind at work.

Long may it continue.

 The Evil Within: run away from

the thing with the chainsaw.

 The upcoming GhostWire: Tokyo

looks spooky, but not scary.

 Early Resi concept art shows

two dropped characters.

 Goof Troop was far

better than expected.

 Mikami: doesn’t like being

scared; does like hats.

“At Capcom, he headed

up projects, but life as

a producer never quite

suited the man”

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